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Crane-crammed Washington and its suburbs are looking like a Guangzhou free-trade zone. It's not just Big Government at work. Kauffman, the foundation for entrepreneurship, recently identified the geographic epicenters where the nation's fastest-growing companies are located. The No. 1 entrepreneurial hot spot in the nation today is not Silicon Valley or Seattle but Washington-Arlington.

For some time, the federal government has been quietly outsourcing its functions to private companies, which, in turn, has spawned fast-growing start-ups along the Potomac. The U.S. government's ceaseless monitoring of foreign Websites for terrorist chatter? A lot of that work is outsourced to private firms you've never heard of, which, in turn, has created serious Beltway wealth. The Virginian counties ringing D.C. are now the three richest in the country; Maryland has more millionaires per capita than any other state in the union.

Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci hangs sublime in the National Gallery of Art in Washington
National Gallery of Art

So rethink what you visit in the nation's capital; it little resembles the metropolis you toured 20 years ago. That's because a severe height restriction to buildings in D.C. has forced the city to push out into nearby Maryland and Virginia counties. National Harbor, for example, is a start-up Maryland town on the banks of the Potomac that didn't exist until the family-owned developer, Peterson Cos., broke ground a few years ago. It's now a massive waterfront community with million-dollar penthouses and luxury hotels like Westin and Gaylord National.

The National Children's Museum closed shop in D.C. and was reopened this month under new leadership in this pop-up resort on the Potomac. A 15-minute drive from the capital, the museum is well worth visiting if you have young children rebelling against more tours of craggy-faced men in marble. A Sesame Street–theme playroom is next to a fire station where kids can don pint-size but real-looking firefighters' uniforms and helmets. In the section devoted to learning geography, kids pack a suitcase to go on a faraway trip, dress up in mini-kimonos, or "cook" exotic foodstuffs on a bank of tiny stoves. I defy you not to get down on your knees alongside your kids or grandkids to buy plastic Tanzanian plantains at the open marketplace. As Willard Whitson, the museum's chief executive, told me, "We take play very serious."

Hillwood is a quirky museum for adults, also in one of D.C.'s lesser-traveled 'hoods. It's the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post; the only child of the cereal king, C.W. Post, she was once one of the wealthiest women in the U.S. Hillwood is a showcase for the heiress's serious collection of French tapestries, Russian porcelain, and German cabinetry. Her nearly 90-piece collection of Fabergé dropped my jaw, as did a Cartier necklace with carved Indian emeralds, each the size of a small plum.

But while Post's cabinet-after-cabinet of rococo porcelain is undeniably of highest quality, I found myself a little uncomfortable in her fastidious pastel-colored boudoirs and pink bathrooms. Post went through four husbands, and her last home, where she reverted to her maiden name, has an unconscious "icky men not allowed" air about it. Hillwood is really a wealthy woman's Room of One's Own, so adored it is now the third-highest-ranked tourist destination in D.C. after the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art in the Mall, according to tripadvisor.com.

My must-do in D.C., when pressed for time, remains the National Gallery of Art. The finest Leonardo da Vinci in the world is not in Europe, in my opinion; rather, it's his wood-panel painting, Ginevra de' Benci, hanging in the NGA. I never understood the Mona Lisa cult; it's the somber and intelligent beauty of Ginevra de' Benci that takes my breath away. The museum's East Building is exhibiting an excellent Roy Lichtenstein retrospective; its tower devoted to Barnett Newman's The Stations of the Cross is one of the great museum experiences in America.

After such a full day, it is wise to restore oneself at an eatery both delicious and relaxed. Few hot spots top D.C.'s tapas temple, Jaleo. Chef José Andrés' take on the gin-and-tonic—with real juniper berries and thin slices of radish—cannot be passed up. It's the ideal opener for platters of Basque-style squid in ink, grilled quail with honey aioli, and asparagus with romesco sauce, which is a Catalan dip made from crushed almonds, roasted garlic, and peppers. I promise it will all leave you feeling deliciously D.C.—which, these days, means very wealthy indeed.